No, thank you for your comfy office chair

I have a moody schedule. I can be an extremely morning person, creating viral content at 4.30am before everyone else has peeked at their smartphone with one eye closed. The following day, I can be a night owl, starting to churn out ideas at 12 midnight until wee hours in the morning. But if you force me to sit my butt on your office chair at 9 am every single day then that is counterproductive, no matter how comfortable and ergonomically-designed that office chair is. You are wasting my time and yours. I think most creatives are like that. I need an inspiration, a trigger, to really get going. If you force your preferred hours on me, we both lose because you get less output from me.

I used to work in corporate that has this vicious cycle, which was massively detrimental to my mental health. I repeatedly asked if I can work remotely and the answer they gave me was “we don’t do things that way” every single time. “Hey, you have the power, why don’t you implement changes for the better?” That follow up was replied with silence. Their response didn’t make a lot of sense to me but I’m just an employee so either “you suck it up or leave.” I chose the latter. I’m done trying to work a 9-6 shift. I make more mistakes when I force myself to do so. I only stick to work arrangements where I have the freedom with my work hours. I’m not a bum though and I don’t slack off. I actually slacked off more when I was forced to come in the office. I don’t think I’m alone on this one but even if I am, I’d admit I probably chatted with my officemates half the time I was in the office. Now, I just prefer to work at the time of my peak productivity. That’s the smarter choice.

Most may disagree because they’d say they don’t have a choice, they have mouths to feed. It’s a cliche but you always have a choice. This is also for the employers out there. If you can’t trust your team to do work remotely, maybe you should rethink why you hired them. If you can’t trust them, maybe they are not the right people for the job. You should build a team you can trust instead of having one that you can micromanage.

Overall, I take pride in the work I do. I may not be the greatest but I know that I will never have a shot at greatness in a confined setup. I love to create meaningful content that provides value and I love doing it with like-minded people, a team that aims for greatness and who really care about the things they are working on despite the lack of rules and processes. In order to do this, I have to not be sitting in that comfy chair at 9 am. I need to break down all the office walls, bring myself to where I’m inspired, and work my ass off to finish content that matters whether at 4.30 am or 12 midnight.